The King Enters Jerusalem^(A)

11 When they came near Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus^[a] sent two of his disciples on ahead ² and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you go into it, you will find a colt tied up that no one has ever ridden. Untie it, and bring it along. ³ If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?,’ say, ‘The Lord needs it,’ and he will send it back here at once.”

⁴ So they went and found the colt outside in the street tied up next to a doorway. While they were untying it, ⁵ some men standing there asked them, “What are you doing untying that colt?” ⁶ The disciples^[b] told them what Jesus had said, and the men^[c] let them go.

⁷ They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their coats on it, and he sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread their coats on the road, while others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. ⁹ Those who went ahead and those who followed him were shouting,

¹¹ Then Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the Temple and looked around at everything. Since it was already late, he went out with the Twelve to Bethany.

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree^(B)

¹² The next day, as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus^[h] became hungry. ¹³ Seeing in the distance a fig tree covered with leaves, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing except leaves because it wasn’t the season for figs. ¹⁴ So he told it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” Now his disciples were listening to this.

Confrontation in the Temple over Money^(C)

¹⁵ When they came to Jerusalem, he went into the Temple and began to throw out those who were selling and those who were buying in the Temple. He overturned the moneychangers’ tables and the chairs of those who sold doves. ¹⁶ He wouldn’t even let anyone carry a vessel through the Temple. ¹⁷ Then he began to teach them: “It is written, is it not, ‘My house is to be called a house of prayer for all nations’?^[i] But you’ve turned it into a hideout^[j] for bandits!” ¹⁸ When the high priests and elders heard this, they began to look for a way to kill him, because they were afraid of him, since the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. ¹⁹ When evening came, Jesus and his disciples^[k] would leave the city.

The Lesson from the Dried Fig Tree^(D)

²⁰ While they were walking along early the next morning, they saw the fig tree dried up to its roots. ²¹ Remembering what Jesus had said,^[l] Peter pointed out to him, “Rabbi,^[m] look! The fig tree you cursed has dried up!”

²² Jesus told his disciples,^[n] “Have faith in God! ²³ I tell all of you^[o] with certainty, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ if he doesn’t doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. ²⁴ That is why I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received^[p] it and it will be yours.

²⁵ “Whenever you stand up to pray, forgive whatever you have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins. ²⁶ But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.”^[q]

Jesus’ Authority is Challenged^(E)

²⁷ Then they went into Jerusalem again. While Jesus^[r] was walking in the Temple, the high priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him ²⁸ and asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority to do them?”

²⁹ Jesus told them, “I’ll ask you one question.^[s] Answer me, and then I’ll tell you by what authority I’m doing these things. ³⁰ Was John’s authority to baptize^[t] from heaven or from humans? Answer me.”

³¹ They began discussing this among themselves. “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he’ll say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘From humans’…?” They were afraid of the crowd, because everyone really thought John was a prophet.

³³ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then Jesus told them, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I’m doing these things.”